First awarded in 1901, Nobel Prizes are annual international recognition of scientific and/or cultural advances in fields of chemistry, physics, literature, peace, economics and physiology or medicine. Each recipient receives a medal, diploma and monetary award. This year’s winners were announced earlier this month. Learn more about the prizes and winners by exploring the links below:

NobelPrize.org – See who won in each category, and the reasons behind why these extraordinary individuals are being recognized.

Biography and news articles about Alfred Nobel -
The man best known for bequeathing his estate upon his death to support the annual Nobel Prizes was ironically the chemist who discovered dynamite. As a pacifist and a humanitarian, he was appalled to find out that the invention was used for military purposes, rather than solely peaceful reasons, such as revolutionizing the mining industry. This was the main reason he created, in a handwritten will, the Nobel Foundation and the arrangement for giving out annual prizes for extraordinary achievements. Read more about this important figure in Gale Biography in Context, one of the library’s Reference Databases. Note: You will need your library card number to access this source.

Ig Nobel Prizes -
For something a little different, the Ig
Nobel Prizes are awarded annually at Harvard University for achievements or research that “make people laugh, and then make them think.” The achievements that won the prize this year include research that shows the longer a cow lies down, the more likely it is to stand up, as well as an experiment that confirmed people who think they are drunk also think they are attractive.

Books about
Nobel Prizes - Finally, see what is in
UAPL's catalog about the history and winners of the Nobel Prize.